Re: Site Structure vs. Site Navigation

["Tomas V.V.Cox" <cox idecnet com>]

[..]

> > >P.S. If you've noticed that I've not mentioned a search
> > >interface, congratulations. I do not consider a search
> > >interface, however good, a replacement for good structure
> > >and navigation. A user should never be forced to search.
> > >Unfortunately, many sites use search as a band-aid for poor
> > >structure and navigation.
> >
> > Agreed, with the caveat that a good search tool is a wonderful (and
> > often unimplemented) supplement to good structure and well planned
> > navigation.  Please don't throw out the baby with the bathwater on
> > this one.
> 
> Sorry, I was a little unclear. I also consider search to be
> a valuable tool, but have often seen it used as a band-aid.

If the search engine is not good made, people probably only gets trash
results. But if the search engine is good, I consider it a better
navigation system than spend my time thinking where is something and
navigating throw many pages (also in a well structured site).

Let's view and example. When I go to IBM to get info about the new tape
storage format called LTO. I can do:

ibm.com -> products -> storage -> tape storage -> product -> select tape
format: LTO -> what I want
(every step requires a decision, read 90% of uninteresting text and wait
for dowloading pages)

Or I can:
ibm.com search for: LTO tape -> what I want

In big sites (I consider Gnome site as a big one), a search engine is a
better system to navigate than click and wait every time.

Regards,

Tomas V.V.Cox